Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 June 2013
Our point of analytical departure is that the state of the global environment is deteriorating despite the accumulating body of international environmental law. By drawing on the recent Earth system science concept of interlinked planetary boundaries, this article makes a case for a goal-oriented, purposive system of multilateral environmental agreements. The notion of ‘goal’ is used here to mean a single, legally binding, superior norm – a grundnorm – that gives all international regimes and organizations a shared purpose to which their specific objectives must contribute. A bird’s eye view of the international environmental law system reveals how the absence of a unifying goal has created a condition that is conducive to environmental problem shifting rather than problem solving. We argue that a clearly agreed goal would provide the legal system with a point of reference for legal reasoning and interpretation, thereby enhancing institutional coherence across Earth’s subsystems. To this end, this article concludes by observing that the protection of the integrity of Earth’s life-support system has emerged as a common denominator among international environmental law instruments. Accordingly, we suggest that this notion is a strong candidate for the overarching goal of international environmental law.
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111 Decision 2/CP.7, The Marrakesh Accords, UN Doc. FCCC/CP/2001/13/Add.1, 21 Jan. 2002.
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142 Vienna (Austria), 23 May 1969, in force 27 Jan. 1980, available at: http://untreaty.un.org/ilc/texts/instruments.
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154 Ibid., Preamble.
155 See, e.g., Protocol Concerning Specially Protected Areas and Biological Diversity in the Mediterranean, Barcelona (Spain), 10 Jun. 1995, in force 12 Dec. 1999, available at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu.
156 N. 65 above.
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162 N. 30 above.
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164 Rio Declaration, ibid., Principle 7.
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167 Draft International Covenant, n. 159 above, Art. 2. This was reflected in the text upon consulting with the drafters of the Earth Charter to ensure consistency among the principles set forth in both texts.
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